THE NUMBER OF people signing on the Live Register dropped slightly last month. The standardised unemployment rate in September was 14.3 per cent – it was 14.4 per cent in August.

However, it is 0.4 per cent higher than the rate of 14 per cent in September 2010. In 2010, the average unemployment rate was 13.6 per cent. A release from the Central Statistics Office today shows that there was a decrease of 5,400 people on the Live Register in September 2011 when seasonal adjustments are taken into account.

Overall, the impression is that the number of people on the Live Register has been stabilising over the last 12 months. (See the note below about what the Live Register means).

Other figures from the CSO over the last 12 months to end of September 2011 show that:

• The number of women on the Live Register increased slightly by 1.9 per cent to 155,453 and the number of men decreased slightly by -2.7 per cent to 281,988.
• The number of long-term claimants on the Live Register is continuing to increase. In September 2010, 33.4 per cent of those on the Live Register had been there for one year or more. At the end of last month, that percentage was 41.9.

(Note: The Live Register doesn’t necessarily imply a person is fully unemployed – it also counts part-time workers and seasonal and casual workers who can claim some jobseekers’ benefit or allowance).

There is a sobering bar chart contained in the publication of the latest CSO figures. It classifies people on the Live Register according to their occupations – it shows that the largest group by far who are having to seek some kind of jobseekers’ benefit or allowance are men who worked in crafts or trades:

Read: 100 Irish people emigrating every day according to the CSO>